Editors' Review

FileZilla is a powerful, free file management tool for FTP access to your Web site's server. Containing numerous tools to help upload and download files between your local machine and the server on which your site is hosted, this is a reliable, intuitive tool for anyone in the Web development field.

Pros

Reliable and fast: FileZilla may be free, but it's a very stable program and offers reliable, accessible tools for anyone who needs to manage files via remote FTP connection. With your username and password you can quickly log in to the FTP server, move files, upload new files, and even edit files with programs on your local machine. All of this is done quickly, and the software didn't crash or hang like many other free tools have in our tests.

Feature rich: The most basic functions of FileZilla work well, but there are even more tools here for advanced users. From Manual Configurations to speed limit monitoring under the Transfer menu, FileZilla has a lot beneath the surface, if you plan on using it often.

Cons

Daunting for newcomers: As deep and reliably fast as FileZilla is, it can be confusing for someone who is not already familiar with FTP protocols. It can also be dangerous as the tool doesn't prompt you to create copies on the local account and doesn't have options for syncing different file versions. While it does check if you want to overwrite a file, there are many situations here in which mistakes can be made. Combined with a somewhat confusing interface, it can be daunting for less experienced users.

Bottom Line

If you are looking for a solid, reliable FTP tool for your Windows desktop, consider FileZilla. Available for free and containing every major tool you could need to manage your files, FileZilla is a perfect addition to your toolbox, and with a number of more robust tools in the FileZilla library, it scales well for professionals.

Publisher's Description

FileZilla is an FTP program for file uploading and downloading to and from your FTP site, server, or host. The program lets you transfer files and navigate among folders, Web sites, and your computer. This software enables you to perform multiple file transfers simultaneously.

1. Constant, irritating update notices.
2. Updates do not update the current installation automatically. You have uninstall and install the new update.
3. This 'recursive' transferring has to be the worst thing that happened to FileZilla. It continuously keeps transferring files or in other words a simple file transfer also never ends. It's disgusting.
4. The UI is getting worse by the day. The top icons barely help in doing anything.
5. Filezilla's success was in it's simplicity. That has just gone out of the window.
6. Keep a separate filezilla advanced for advanced users. For regular users it should be just a matter of opening filezilla and dragging and dropping files. Currently drag and drop puts it into a constant godforsaken loop that never ends. A 64 MB download is taking more than 4 hours now and still showing 5043 files queued when the original folder had only 193 file sin 21 directories. It has just become a royal pain.

The update notices have become too cumbersome to use. They have been moved from the start up, to the middle of using the interface, interrupting and stopping your work. It feels like browsing a clickbait site with notices and ads popping up to force you to go to another site or install an app, taking you away from what you were trying to do. It now downloads the updates that have to be manually initiated to an undisclosed folder that I can't find to apply them. I can no longer simply "start it up and transfer files", which makes me ask, "what's the point of this app then?" Clearly the developers feel that is only there to push a stream of updates to users. When I downloaded the new version from the web it was detected as a security threat by my security software as a trojan horse (it now downloads ads to display) warning me this behavior is about to get a lot worse than it is now.

I've done this twice over a couple of years and my computer was infected both times. It takes a lot of time to remove this garbage from your computer once it's there. If anyone says that this doesn't happen they are flat out lying. I want to know why download.com and others continue to allow this to go on.

Summary

Make your own decision but all of these bad reviews are very consistent and correct. Your FTP download comes with Malware. (free of charge)

Malware runs without asking permission to change settings on browsers,
Malware takes over all browser home pages with yahoo home.
Malware takes over all browsers default search engines with Yahoo search.
It's a pain to back out all the settings this Malware does.
Wonder what else this Malware does without permission, scary thought.

It does what you'd expect it to do and much more for being free. Almost anyone I know that has used it for years or most tech sites recommend it and has for a long time. Not sure what all the talk about malware is, just because they have bundled some offers to look at while installing. It seems most free software does these days, understandable since they have invested the time and effort to create free software for people to use at no cost to the end user. You can just decline them if you don't want the extra offers. I think some people just get ahead of themselves and start clicking when installing a lot of software. It's just human nature, it happens. You just have to read the text carefully when installing, and you still miss some at times. I would prefer they didn't do it myself, but I'm not the one doing all the hard work to create the software for me to use without paying anything for it either.

Cons

I haven't found anything wrong with it myself, it does a great job, better than any other free one out there that I have had the opportunity to use or read about.

Summary

Those people claiming to have malware infect their computer, no way you could say for sure where it comes from. I have installed Filezilla on several machines over the years and have never had any problem like that. Just downloaded it today and installed on another computer to test it out and the newest download presented no such problems. It would be a good idea for those concerned about it to ease their mind, to run your favorite anti-malware software once before installing and then after installing to see when the problem was introduced. It's always a good idea to do that anytime you install any software downloaded from an online source. Never hurts to take that extra step. Even better, if you had the resources to do it, would be to try installing all new software on a spare test computer if you have one, or in a virtual machine on your main computer, like Virtual box or VMware. Like I said though, not every one has that luxury, but if you do it's the best way to go. Short of that, just be sure to run your ant-malware software like Malwarebytes or something, just to be on the safe side, at least as safe as you can expect anyway. Anybody that has ever worked with computers for any length of time knows that trying to keep your computer safe is like walking through a mine field, you can be as careful as you can be, but you just never know when your going to walk on one. Just don't let it deter you, just learn from it and move on, that's all we can do.

None - I had to fight with the Malware that kept opening even though I selected to not install any additional items.

Cons

To many to state but the bottom line even though I selected to not install any of the add on a boatload were installed. They basically high jacked my machine and I had to restore it in order to use it.

Summary

I would not recommend downloading this and installing it. Even if you select to not install any additional items it does. Weather, Computer Check, File Opener to name a few. The Computer checker ran in the back ground and kept popping up informing me that I have issues. Had to restore my system and run Malware Bytes several time to remove everything.

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